Autism - Deprivation of Liberty order

Stranger_Than_Fiction

Hi all,

I hope you won't mind me posting this here even though it's not strictly about money. I really feel angry about what is happening, though, so feel it qualifies as a vent.

I have a friend, Mark Neary, who has an adopted son of 20 with autism. Around Christmas last year, Mark had flu and his son Steven was given respite care for 3 nights. Since then, the local authority has kept Steven in care, despite the fact that neither he nor his father want him to be there.

Earlier this year, Steven was left unsupervised in the care home (and there were only 2 other residents), left the house and met a vicar whose glasses he removed. As a consequence of this, the local authority served Steven with a Deprivation of Liberty order.

Why, you might ask? It might have something to do with the fact that if the local authority can prove Steven needs 'treatment' rather than support, they can transfer the cost of his care to the local PCT.

I could write reams on this story but really came here to ask if you would be willing to a) find out more about this case and b) if you agree, sign the petition to allow Steven to return home.

You can find the petition http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_pe...d.cgi?Steven&1

There is a Facebook group - Get Steven Home which you can find at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=134345726596848&v=wall&story_fbid=14 4746105556810&ref=notif&notif_t=feed_comment_reply #!/group.php?gid=134345726596848&ref=ts and gives lots more information, including links to newspaper and radio articles.

Thanks for reading this and if you feel you can, please pass this on to family and friends. Steven just wants to be home with his dad who he has lived with quite happily and successfully for the last 15 years.

lanavdt

That's me signed the petition and joined the facebook group :T

jackieglasgow

signed it too.

Joyful

The one thing that is missing is why he was not returned after 3 days? Surely the Social Services must have had more information to make that decision? Did anything happen either in those 3 days or before that would have made them not want to return him?

ifonlyitwaseasier

signed & joined

good luck!

Stranger_Than_Fiction

Joyful wrote: »

The one thing that is missing is why he was not returned after 3 days? Surely the Social Services must have had more information to make that decision? Did anything happen either in those 3 days or before that would have made them not want to return him?

No, nothing happened. The LA said they would like him to stay for a few days to work on his weight which his Dad agreed to but nothing else. I know it sounds totally bizarre and improbable but this really is the situation. Private Eye have run 2 articles about this case and Radio 4 interviewed the father on You and Yours. You can find links to this and more information on the Facebook page if you have an account. Otherwise, please feel free to ask questions and I'll do my best to answer them.

kazzah60

I have an almost 20 year old son with ASD - when he was younger, my husband (his father) was quite poorly and I was struggling a little to cope with my husband's ill health and also care for my younger son who has a physical disability and was undergoing surgery
social services who had NEVER offered any kind of help or support suddenly decided that my son would be better off in respite care - well I fought it and fought it- I knew my son would NEVER cope with strangers and would withdraw and never trust me again - thankfully I am quite a strong minded person and resisted ALL their efforts to put him into respite- and hearing about this poor lad's treatment has made me even more glad that I did resist their efforts

this situation is disgraceful

markneary

Many thanks to the OP for posting the links.

I am Steven's father and the OP has the story straight - improbable though it may seem. I was ill after Christmas and arranged for him to go to his regular respite unit for three days. I was told the following day that he had been moved to a "Positive Behaviour Unit" and was pesuaded to let him stay there for two weeks "to get myself back on my feet". A Week later, I was told he was being kept there for an indefinate period to work on his challenging behaviour. He hasnt been allowed to return home since.

He is in a terrible double bind. In the four months prior to him going away, we had 14 incidents of "challenging behaviour" at home. If you understand about autism and what an "autistic meltdown" is like, then the figure of 14 isn't too bad. In the seven months Steven has been at the "Positive Behaviour Unit", they have recorded 306 "incidents". Lots of experts in the autism field have contacted me to confirm that greater levels of aggression = greater levels of anxiety but social services are refusing to acknowledge this.

The latest bombshell is that they want to move Steven to an out of borough specialist unit to work on his "extreme challenging behaviour". This will cause untold damage as he will lose his normal support workers, his friends and all the places he goes to that are so important in helping him feel secure.

There is a money angle to this case. It is becoming increasingly clear to me and Steven's supporters that the Local Authority are trying to shift the cost of Steven's support package on to the PCT and the only way they can do that is by exagerating the challenging behaviour because that will score him more points and move him into PCT funding category.

If you have the time, please drop by on the Facebook group and see the fantastic support this campaign has generated.

Many thanks
Mark

pimento

Signed.

I wish you both the best of luck and hope Steven is home with his family very soon.

hazey31

Signed. Good luck Mark and Steven.

shreddy

Joined and signed, I truly hope this works out for you and Steven. I can't imagine what a difficult time it is for you both and your family.

K x